The Arizona Cardinals lost their starting quarterback Sunday, as veteran Carson Palmer went down with a torn ACL early in the fourth quarter of yesterday’s game.
Though the Cardinals ended up defeating the St. Louis Rams, 31-14, it was a bittersweet win for Arizona, as Palmer tore his ACL in his left knee following a sack from Rams safety Mark Barron with 11:21 to go in the fourth quarter. He finished the game with 241 passing yards, one interception, and a decent 25-for-36 passing clip. But for Palmer, who had just recently signed a three-year extension supposedly worth $50 million, it was a crushing moment for the man who has led the Cardinals to an 8-1 record so far.
According to Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians, Palmer will go under the knife for surgery in about two weeks, once the swelling in his knee has subsided; his estimated time table for recovery has him coming back in June or July, during the NFL off-season. Palmer was replaced by backup Drew Stanton, who did “a heck of a job” filling in, just like he did for three games when Palmer was down with a shoulder injury.
Palmer is no stranger to ACL injuries, having torn the ACL and MCL in the same knee during the 2005-06 NFL playoffs. And in an added twist of irony, that injury also came mere days after he signed a huge contract; ten days prior to the ACL/MCL tear, on December 29, 2005, Palmer signed a six-year, $118 million contract with the Cincinnati Bengals. He had, however, returned just in time to start the 2006 season, making the Pro Bowl for a second straight year and missing just one snap.